


tempestuous

by appleofmyrye



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Everything Hurts, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), even though I totally wish the movie hadn’t happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 06:13:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14785023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appleofmyrye/pseuds/appleofmyrye
Summary: “Tell me.” he murmurs.





	tempestuous

There had been barely a word uttered among the survivors when the battle was over, when they’d lost. It had been hard to look at each other, either. 

It’s uncomfortable to the point that Bruce can’t stay here. He can’t make eye contact anyone without thinking of how long he’s been gone, how much things have changed, how the battle could have gone a different way if he had just-

No. This isn’t the time or place. He really needs to get out of here.

The good news is that he remembers how Thor showed up, and when Bruce risks a glance at him, Thor looks antsy and ready to bolt.

(That’s not exactly good news - even on Sakaar, when they were fugitives, Thor was level-headed and had a plan. Now, he looks completely lost and devastated.

Scratch not exactly good news. This is really bad news.)

What it does mean is that Thor is as ready to leave as he does, so Bruce doesn’t think twice before reaching out to catch his attention.

“Hey. Can we go?”

Thor doesn’t question him at all. “Where?”

“Not here. Somewhere else. I don’t- I can’t-“ He can’t get the rest of the words out, but Thor gets it, nods.

“We just have to get Rabbit.”

“We have to - what?”

Rabbit is the talking raccoon, Rocket, who helped Thor with the axe and saved him from the depths of outer space, another story that Bruce hopes to one day actually hear instead of just hearing out-of-context snippets that don’t make any sense.

For a talking raccoon, Rocket doesn’t say much of anything - he just nods when Thor offers to take him somewhere else. 

(Rocket doesn’t look back from the pile of ash near him the whole time he climbs onto Thor’s shoulder, and Bruce realizes he doesn’t see the Tree around anywhere.

Oh god. The Tree.

Bruce doesn’t even know its name. Didn’t even know its name.)

He really, really needs to get away from here. 

——

Bifrost travel is exhausting.

Bruce doesn’t know where they are. He doesn’t think that Thor knows where they are either. There is nothing around for miles but hills and grass, save for a single two-story stone building a couple feet away.

At closer look, the building is a hotel of some sort, an inn at best. A place to stay, away from everyone else.

They must make quite a trio: a massive guy with a bigger axe still dripping with alien blood, a talking racoon, and him. The receptionist at the inn takes one look at them and all but shoves them into the nicest suite in the place, stammering about alien spaceships in the sky and people disintegrating.

The second they get into the room,  
Bruce collapses on the nearest available surface, a couch that’s definitely seen better days.

He wakes up in the room five hours later, alone, with a raging headache.

Rocket vanished off to somewhere when they had arrived, but Bruce had expected Thor to be around. 

(Thor had been pacing when Bruce had collapsed on the couch. Standing guard. Like he had expected Bruce to vanish next.)

Pure panic courses through his veins, flushing out the usual reason that controls his brain. Thor is gone, he must have disappeared, things are getting worse than they already are-

No. He has to focus, find out how things really happened. No panic allowed. Asses the situation. Use what he knows.

What he knows is that in the dark, it’s easier to hear Thor than see him. There is a persistent hum in the air, a ripple in ozone whenever he’s around. If Thor is here, Bruce will hear it.

Bruce closes his eyes, and he doesn’t have to hear it - he can feel it: the calm before a storm. Thor is still here.

The thunder that crackles in the background backs up his theory. Bruce opens his eyes and heads to the window. In the distance, there’s a figure silhouetted against the midnight sky.

There he is. If Bruce wasn’t sure before, the crack of lighting hitting the figure is more than enough proof.

He takes the stairs two at a time (the elevator seems to slow for some reason) and flies by the receptionist, who is still awake. She doesn’t ask him what he’s doing, doesn’t pay him any attention.

(He’s not sure what he would tell her he was doing anyway.

What is he doing?)

He’s going to comfort his friend, damn it. That’s what he’s going to do.

It doesn’t take that long to walk across the field to where Thor is.

He’s grieving. They’re all grieving, but not like this. Thor had arrived in Wakanda with the Tree and Rocket, not with Loki, or Valkryie, or Heimdall. Bruce has to assume the worst.

“I’m sorry.”

Thor doesn’t say anything, but his hands relax just a little bit so they’re no longer curled tightly into fists. Bruce takes that as a sign to continue. 

“I can’t possibly imagine how you feel. I just-“

“Banner. Stop talking.”

“Right. Ok.”

They stand in silence, save for the grumble of thunder every once in a while. 

Silence is hard now. Silence presses down from every angle and brings bad memories to the surface, where they feel fresh as the day they were created. Silence is unforgiving and brutal.

Silence is a bitch. 

Silence also hurts more when you feel alone, and if Bruce is feeling alone right now, it’s nothing compared to how Thor must be feeling.

How do you reduce feelings of being alone? He has to know this, the facts coiled somewhere deep in the back of his head. He’s not a psychiatrist, not his area of study, but he does know some things.

Talking isn’t going to work, seeing as it’s already failed. Physical contact?

That could work.

Bruce takes his moment of recognition to reach out and slide his fingers in between Thor’s.

“Banner-“

“Shut up. I’m trying to make you feel better.”

Thor doesn’t fight him then, and that’s how they stand for a minute, fingers tangled, silence less painful. The clouds in front of the moon dissipate a little.

Talking might work now.

“Tell me.” he murmurs.

“I don’t have anything to tell.”

The storm says something different. “Tell me.”

They stand in silence again, nothing but the occasional rumble of thunder to bring Bruce’s thoughts back to Earth. 

It’s a while before Thor speaks. “I couldn’t protect my people. Half of them are dead. Loki is dead. I couldn’t stop Thanos.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“Yes I can. I couldn’t stop him in Wakanda, either. If I had just gone for his neck-“

This is the part where Bruce remembers the reason he isn’t a psychiatrist - he’s bad at talking. Understanding people, not hard. Consoling then? No way. “How could you have known he could survive the axe to the chest?”

“I shouldn’t have let vengeance consume me.”

“Don’t you dare blame yourself. Did anyone else even think about how to kill Thanos? Did anyone else even get close?”

“That’s not what matters.”

“What matters, then?”

“I should have killed him.”

“But you didn’t. And you can’t change that, and we have to move on-“

“Banner, I have lost everything.”

“You haven’t lost me, have you?” It’s a weak attempt, but it makes Thor turn to him.

“I didn’t even know you were there, in Wakanda. I didn’t know where Heimdall sent you. I thought I had lost you-“

Why is Thor so goddamn tall? Bruce wants to kiss him so fucking bad, and he can’t fucking reach. 

“I’m here, though. I’m right here. I don’t think it’s possible for you to lose me.”

“I had already lost everything and then he, he, and I thought of you - you are so lucky you made it. I am so lucky you made it. I don’t know what I would do without you. You’re all I have left.” 

“What about Valkryie?”

“She should have escaped. I don’t know if she survived the snap.”

That’s not good. 

“I’m sure she made it.” It’s all the comfort that he can offer right now. “We can fix this.”

“Can we?”

“We will fix this. We have to.”

Bruce does get a kiss then, one that tastes like pain and regret and loss. It’s a small comfort, considering the circumstances, but it’s exactly what both of them need.

Thor curls his fingers more tightly in Bruce’s. “Ok. We can fix this.”

Bruce pulls him away from the vast, open field and back towards the hotel.

“In the morning, we can go somewhere else, ok? Somewhere different. I’m thinking Luxembourg. You been there?”

Thor hums, noncommittal. Bruce continues. “They have really nice architecture, and it’s far enough from where Sokovia used to be - I can’t believe we destroyed it, by the way - that no one will really notice us.”

“Even with the axe?”

“Even with the axe.”

“And Rabbit will come too.”

That’s a no brainer, but - “You know he’s a raccoon, right?”

“What’s the difference?”

Bruce doesn’t have the energy to correct him. “And then, with time, we’ll think of a way to fix this. Bring everyone back. Everyone.”

Thor smiles at him, a hopeful smile, and the world seems less disastrous. 

Mary Tyler Moore was right: they’re gonna make it after all.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr: @incorrect-thruce


End file.
